Love Actually
Love Actually has grown a cult-like following since it was released 14 years ago.
And despite watching it every, single, Christmas – there might still be some things you didn’t actually know about the iconic romantic comedy.
1. The movie was filmed back to front
In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, Martine McCutcheon (who played Natalie in the film) revealed that the movie was actually shot back to front.
“The reunion at Heathrow Airport scene is my favourite,” she said. “It brings back the happiest memories because it was our first day of filming… We were all really excited that we were all working together on our first day rather than it just being me and Hugh [Grant] or Emma [Thompson] and Alan [Rickman].”
2. Hugh Grant really didn’t want to do that dance scene
The actor allegedly put off filming the glorious routine for as long as possible.
3. Olivia Olson’s voice was TOO good
Were you blown away by Joanna’s rendition of Mariah Carey’s iconic hit? Turns out the tune could have been even better than what you saw on screen. The film’s director, Richard Curtis, thought her pipes were so impressive that they wouldn’t be believed. Apparently he asked her to “do it a little less good” and add some breaths in to make it more “realistic” on the second take.
4. Andrew Lincoln wrote his own flash cards
Andrew Lincoln wrote the signs for the scene in which his character, Mark, professes his love for his best mate’s wife Juliet.
“It’s funny, because the art department did it, and then I said, ‘Well, can I do it?’ because I like to think that my handwriting is really good,” he said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
5. There’s a hilarious reason why Colin Firth’s character was named Jamie
Emma Freud, script writer and wife of the director, revealed plenty of interesting tidbits when the couple sat down to watch (and live Tweet) the film (which Richard hadn’t seen since the original premier).
6. The lake that Jamie and Aurelia jumped in was only 18 inches deep
Colin Firth and Lúcia Moniz had to pretend to swim while they did the whole scene on their knees.
7. Claudia Schiffer was paid big bucks for her role
According to the book How Much?!: The $1000 Omelette… and 1100 Other Astonishing Money Moments, the supermodel was paid £200,000 (AU $349,000) for her 60 second cameo in the film. Curtis said she wasn’t originally meant to be in the film – he wanted to cast someone who looked like her but ended up offering her the part when he couldn’t find anyone similar.
8. Thomas Brodie-Sangster learned to play the drums for the movie
Yep, Thomas was just as clueless about playing drums as his character, Sam, was. But he eventually learned and still plays to this day.
9. The Prime Minister and Sam are actually related
Hugh Grant is Thomas Brodie-Sangster’s uncle in the film but he’s also his second cousin in real life.
10. Emma Thompson wore a “fat suit”
According to IMDB, they wanted to “make her appear heavier” to play Karen as Emma Thompson is naturally thin.
11. There was meant to be 14 love stories but it got cut down to 10
According to Buzzfeed, two of the storylines had already been filmed, one was “about an African couple supporting each other through a famine” and the other was about “a stern headmistress who was nursing her lesbian partner through cancer.”
12. The word “actually” is said 23 times throughout the movie
22 times by characters and once in the opening monologue.
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